Presentation Guidelines

Each of you will select a paper from the literature and present it to your classmates. The paper should relate to the topic of the week. Generally a recent paper (within the last 5 years) is preferred, but a truly seminal older paper might also be a possibility. You will need to bring some possible choices of papers to me more than a week ahead of time to discuss which paper might be the most interesting and relevant. If you need help in finding papers, I would be happy to do that too. The Friday before your presentation, you will distribute copies to your classmates, and they will come to your presentation prepared with questions.

Prepare visual aids, either a powerpoint presentation or transparencies, to assist you in illustrating your points. Make sure that your computer or presentation is properly set up and ready to go BEFORE class begins.

Presentations will be 15-18 minutes, plus 5 minutes for questions. You will want to spend a couple of minutes discussing the background and clearly stating the question or hypothesis, then explain the methods used, and finally show the results from the paper and discuss them. Are the data good? Are the conclusions valid? Might the authors have left out an important control or over-interpreted the results? Conversely, if you think it is a good paper, explain what about it is unique, inventive, or thorough. What is the "big picture"?